Posts Tagged ‘updates’

3 items.

IT’S ALL ABOUT STATUS

by Tom on October 1, 2010 at 12:00 am
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(19 votes, average: 8.84 out of 10)
Facebook, The Social Network, single, status, relationship, annoying, updates, rude, David Fincher, Aaron Sorkin

First things first: The last week has been crazy and I want to thank you guys for putting up with it. I feel bad about there not being a comic on Monday and, frankly, I should have tried to work ahead. I don't really have the latitude to screw around with the update schedule now that I'm down to one comic a week.

I dunno. I guess I'm just paranoid that if I give you guys an excuse to stop reading the comic, you're going to take it. But after 8 years in the game, I think Theater Hopper is at a point where the people who love it kind of love it no matter what. I'm a little long in the tooth to be attracting new readers.

That doesn't give me the right to abuse your patience. I'm just saying maybe it's time I stop abusing myself, too.

Anyway, THANK YOU for being patient! Now that we're moved into the new house, hopefully we'll be settling into a routine soon. I got my office set up earlier in the week and there's enough room in there that I was able to drag out my old drawing table.

I've probably had this drawing table for close to 20 years. It was given to me by my Dad's cousin, who used to draft topographical maps for the Iowa Association of County Conservation Boards. He gave it to me when I was in high school and I spent a lot of time with my chair pulled up to it drawing comic book characters and large-scale compositions.

When I went to college, the drawing board stayed behind in my room. I'd use it every now and again over the summers, but not like I used to.

I think we moved the drawing table to our first apartment after Cami and I got married and I used it for about a year there, but this was probably a year before Theater Hopper. We had moved to a new house in that time and there was never a good place for the drawing table. So it went into storage.

Anyway, the drawing table is back. It sits right next to my desk in my new office and I LOVE IT. Drawing on it again felt like I was reconnecting with a prolific period of my artistic past. It felt like coming home. It was SO much easier to draw on that table than it has been drawing on kitchen table and portable laptop desks over the years. My back wasn't hurting and it was much easier to concentrate on what I was doing! I'm really looking forward to doing more work in this new environment.

Enough about my fabulous drawing table! Can we talk about The Social Network for a minute?

Reviews for this thing are through the roof (Armond White excluded) and frankly, I'm chomping at the bit to see it.

Normally, I take reviews with a grain of salt. But consensus on this thing seems to be so strong, it's hard to ignore.

I'm not particularly interested in Mark Zuckerberg's story. Although I am an avid Facebook user, I find him to be a detestable human being and the worst kind of hypocrite. That's not entirely his fault. But an introvert shouldn't be leading the charge on the largest wave of social interaction in the 21st century.

That said, I don't think it's important that Zuckerberg be a likable or even a relatable character for the movie to be successful. It just seems like a revolutionary concept because American audiences have been conditioned to expect clear heroes and villains in their mainstream entertainment. If anyone can subvert that notion, it's director David Fincher.

The pedigree behind The Social Network reads like a laundry list of Things I Love. David Fincher? Check. Script from Aaron Sorkin? Check. Score by Trent Reznor? Check. Jesse Eisenberg? Ehhhh... well, three out of four ain't bad.

All I know is that I think The Social Network looks great and I can wait to see it. Fingers crossed that my in-laws can watch the kids tomorrow so Cami and I can see it together. After living among boxes for the last week, sorting out the collected flotsam of a decade shared together (plus kids!), we could use a reprieve.

What does everyone else thing about The Social Network? Are you planning on seeing it this weekend? Are you excited? What's the main draw for you? Fincher's direction? Sorkin's script? The secret origins of Facebook? Leave your comments below!

Oh, and expect a new comic on Monday. I promise!

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NEW FACEBOOK PAGE

by Tom on January 6, 2010 at 9:36 am
Posted In: Blog
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I wanted to let everyone know I have a new Facebook page and you can check it out here:

http://www.facebook.com/theaterhopper

The new profile page more effectively pushes updates to you news feed as opposed to the old Facebook group we had on there. Joining the new Facebbok page is a great way to be notified about site updates, news and random thoughts related to the site.

Check it out!

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IMPORTANT NEWS

by Tom on April 23, 2007 at 12:00 am
Posted In: Blog
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Apologies for the delay of this news post. I meant to post it earlier this evening but was held up partially by the conversation I was having with Cami about it, partially out of fear and partially by denial. However, I need to get this information out there and I need to get it over with.

So, effective immediately, Theater Hopper comic updates will be scaled back to once a week with comics running every Wednesday.

The reason for this change is simple. Since Henry was born, it is important for me to keep my focus on him and the well-being of my family. For a short period of time, I deluded myself into thinking this was possible while continuing to maintain three full-color updates a week. After nine weeks with Henry in our lives, it has become clear to me this is no longer the case.

While I have proven that it is physically possible for me to create three comics a week, emotionally I was short shrifting my family and that is unacceptable. These delusions of grandeur led me to believe that I could have it all. Unfortunately, I did not weigh the complete cost of my actions.

This decision has been over four months in the making. I agonized about it before Henry was born and continued to question myself after. A large part of my reluctance to do the right thing was the deep sense of responsibility I felt for you - the reader. Over the last four and a half years, your generosity and support has kept this site going and I consider myself lucky to have some of the nicest fans anyone can hope for. I pride myself on the fact that Theater Hopper has been largely immune from the some of the more juvenile and petty aspects of fandom in this genre and that can all be attributed to you.

However, my life has entered into a new phase that unfortunately eclipses that . If Theater Hopper were all that I did, this wouldn't be an issue. But between a full-time career outside the home, being a responsible father and contributing member of my family and being a cartoonist... well, there's only so much room in my life.

In a way, I knew something like this would happen someday. In interviews I've given in the past, people would ask me how long I planned to continue Theater Hopper. I was realistic about it. I would tell them that I would probably have kids and then stop.

Well, I'm not stopping entirely and that's the compromise. For now, this is a short term solution that hopefully leaves the window open for me to come back to it full time. I find it a much more attractive option than going on a semi-permanent hiatus or closing the doors completely.

I also want to let you know that even though I am reducing my comic output to once a week, that will not alter the three-times-a-week update schedule for the site at large. I still want you to continue checking in as I plan to continue supplementing things with sketches for the immediate future and DVD and movie reviews in the near future. In the coming weeks and months, it is my goal to restructure Theater Hopper to become more than just as web comic, but to become a multi-dimensional piece that covers many different aspects of movies.

I know to some of you, this might sound counter-intuitive to the reasons I gave you for reducing the output of comics. If I'm only updating comics once a week to be with my family, why am I replacing it with new and varied content. The answer is simple. Sketches I can do anywhere. DVD and movie reviews I can do anywhere. All of these options take CONSIDERABLY less time than a full-color comic that takes a few hours each night to complete. Writing for me has been no great trick. I think I can communicate my ideas clearly and quickly. The evolution of my art has been much more of a struggle.

Please bear with me while I make this transition into a new role. With any luck, Theater Hopper will become more of a resource to film as well as an entertaining commentary on it. I appreciate your patience and understanding and hope that you continue to check the site.

Thank you for your support. I look forward to entering into this new phase of Theater Hopper with you!

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